


The Case of the Missing Fedora

by damecross



Category: Perry Mason - Erle Stanley Gardner
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 23:51:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1166107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damecross/pseuds/damecross
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perry Mason wore a hat...  and then he didn't...  Does Della Street know why?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Case of the Missing Fedora

The Case of the Missing Fedora… 

In the Perry Mason novels, especially the early ones, Perry always wears a hat and is forever sailing it toward or perching it on the bust of the famous jurist Blackstone that is prominent in his office. During the first half of the first season of the television show his fedora also figured prominently. But somewhere around mid season it almost completely disappeared. However he did sometimes don a hat in the inclement weather of Denver and Paris in the television movies… Why? This is what I think…

Disclaimer: I don’t own them. I am just allowing them to have a little fun.

Rating: M… definitely spicy. If you don’t like that please don’t read it… This is a combination of ‘book’ and ‘TV’ Perry and Della, although I think that the ‘younger’ scenes are definitely more ‘book’. I repeat… it’s spicy… If this isn’t to your taste PLEASE DON’T READ… 

 

Denver, December 24, 1989

 

Perry Mason’s eyebrows furrowed over his coffee cup at the loud knock on the apartment door. A growl sprang from deep in his throat at the offending sound.

“Stop that. It’s your fault Ken couldn’t stop by last night so be nice.” Della Street wrapped her arms around the neck of her lover and partner for over forty years as she nuzzled his temple.

“Don’t try to play nice after you rejected my advances this morning!” He let out a harrumph… “Besides, I was on the planning committee for the University faculty party. We couldn’t leave until the end.”

“And who actually did the planning?” Della arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “You know it wasn’t that late…” she replied as she pulled away from him to head toward the door. “But no… you had to go home and go to bed… and announce it to anyone who would listen!”

He grabbed her just before she left his reach and pulled her back in to the circle of his arms. “And who requested that the band play ‘that’ song, hmmm?” His fingers toyed with the sash of her red satin robe as his nose nuzzled just beneath her breast, his rich baritone humming the opening bars of ‘Let’s Fall in Love’. 

“I plead the fifth,” Della responded, her eyes glittering with amusement. “Coming, Ken!” she called as the loud knock sounded again. 

“I never said I was going to bed to sleep!” Perry called after her, enjoying the red flush that touched her cheeks as she shushed him before welcoming their young associate in.

“Good morning! Merry Christmas Eve!” Ken called as he sat down the bag he was carrying to shrug out of his heavy winter coat. Perry couldn’t help but chuckle at the look on the younger man’s face when he realized that his host and hostess were still in their nightwear. 

Ken Malansky was more than slightly discomfited. “I’m sorry…” he stammered, dropping his coat over a chair. “I know it’s early…” Even though Ken knew that Perry and Della were in fact a couple outside of the office as well he had rarely seen them in as intimate a setting as this.

“Nonsense. You have a plane to catch.” Della deftly maneuvered Ken into the kitchen and placed a piping hot cup of coffee on the table in front of him. 

“How are you feeling this morning, Perry?” Ken asked solicitously. “You were so anxious to get some rest last night I was afraid you were coming down with something.”

“I feel wonderful!” Perry declared with a mischievous smile. “That extra time in bed was just the ticket!” He didn’t even flinch when he felt Della’s slipper clad foot connect with his shin, just a little too hard to be mistaken for a ‘friendly’ kick.

After half an hour of general conversation they retired to the more comfortable sitting area. Perry settled into his favorite chair while Della pulled Ken’s gift from beneath their tree, and Ken retrieved his bag by the entrance.

The beautiful and extravagant Hermes scarf that was Della’s gift from Ken brought tears to her eyes and effusive thanks to her lips. Ken dipped his head in embarrassment from her praise as he opened the expensive monogrammed leather briefcase from the couple who had become like second parents to him.

And then it was Perry’s turn.

The attorney surveyed the square box on the table in front of him with undisguised interest, his eyes twinkling like a child’s in anticipation.

“I keep telling you he really is just a little boy at heart,” Della chuckled to Ken as Perry lifted the top off of the box and gasped, then just stared silently.

“I uh… Della had some old pictures out one day and I was looking at them and… well, I noticed that early on you had one of these on in several pictures and then you didn’t anymore and… It looked really cool on you so with the weather here in Denver and all… I hope you like it…” Ken’s voice trailed off as he gestured at the box. 

Perry pulled the solid black fedora out of the hat box and surveyed it from all sides, surprise showing in his eyes and a broad smile on his face. “It’s… great, Ken. Just the perfect thing for Denver winters.”

“Try it on.” Ken urged.

Perry had yet to look at his lover since opening the gift and resisted doing so now; but he definitely heard her low smoky voice agreeing. “Yes, Counselor… do try it on…”

“Did you know about this?” Finally intense blue met enigmatic hazel. 

“To quote a wise man, I admit nothing…” Della stood before him and made a slight adjustment to the hat he had just placed on his head… “Very handsome, Counselor.”

“It looks great on you Perry,” Ken enthused. “Why did you stop wearing one?”

“Why indeed?” Perry Mason muttered with an arched eyebrow, his gaze firmly locked with Della Street’s.

 

Chapter 2

Sometime in 1949 – maybe winter since Della is in fur…

(Brackets denote Erle Stanley Gardner’s words from The Case of the Counterfeit Eye (1935) – Novel # 6 end of Chapter 6… Incidentally the only pre 1950 novel not made into an episode by name – although TCOT Treacherous Toupee is obviously based on it… Pity this scene was missing in that broadcast… although if you have seen Raymond Burr and William Hopper’s auditions on the 50th anniversary set it is based on this scene. ‘Perry’ actually takes the top of Della’s coat and pulls it open… MUCH too racy for the time!

A little background on the story… Perry has been at the murder scene and sent a witness back to his office in his car before the police arrive. He calls Della at home and tells her to throw on something and get to the office to meet the witness. She does as he asks but the witness never shows up. Mason returns to the office and finds this out. They have a discussion about the case and then this…)

[Mason grinned at Della Street cheerfully. 

“How about looking in on one of the late night clubs before you go home?” 

She glanced down at herself and said, “If I took this fur coat off I would be arrested. Remember, you told me to dress in a hurry. This coat covers a multitude of sins.” 

“Then you are going home,” Mason said firmly. “At least one of us should keep out of jail.” 

Her eyes were worried. 

“Chief, you don’t mean he’s going to get you?” 

He shrugged his shoulders, bowed, and held the door open for her. 

“One never knows,” he said, “just what Sergeant Holcomb will do. He’s so blunderingly ubiquitous.”]

 

Mason slipped his arm around Della’s waist as he flipped the light switch to off and locked and closed the office door behind them. “Don’t worry, Della. I’ll be fine.”

The couple made their way to the elevator in relative silence, Perry’s arm staying firmly attached to Della’s waist. There they waited for the arrival of the lift, knowing that with the lateness of the hour the young lady who usually operated it would be off duty and the automatic switch turned on. 

Once it arrived Perry expertly set the cage in motion then turned back to his secretary and pulled her close again. “I promise.” He told her, understanding that she was still worried. “Trust me?” He gave her his little boy cow eyes look which made her laugh.

“Always.” She agreed and with a quick glance around the empty elevator she lifted her chin to meet his eyes. He leaned forward, lips pursed, but to his surprise she turned her head away.

Della?” Perry questioned with raised eyebrows. “What’s wrong?”

Della laughed nervously and glanced at the doors. “This is usually where Paul knocks on the door or the phone rings or a client bursts in or...”

Perry couldn’t help but laugh as. “Too true, my girl, but don’t worry. I can take care of that.” He reached to the elevator control panel and flipped the stop switch. The cage immediately slowed to a halt as they melted back together. 

As always, Perry was endlessly amazed by the trust the woman he held loosely in his arms exhibited in him, even though he knew the worry was still there. Hoping to distract her from that worry, as well as taking advantage of the quiet and the privacy afforded, he deepened their kiss, his lips and tongue coaxing hers open.

Della’s eyes popped open in surprise when she felt Perry’s tongue brush hers, tempting her to echo the movement, but quickly closed again as she gave herself over to the moment and fell under the spell of their passion.

Minutes… hours… days… Neither of them could have sworn later to the amount of time they stayed locked together, lips caressing, tongues embracing, while hands wandered freely. Neither of them cared.

Perry had kissed Della many times in the two years they had worked together, both in the office and after numerous even spent out on the town but never had he kissed her this intimately for this long. Although he had dreamed many times of what being this close to Della would be like, nothing had prepared him for the sheer intensity of the feelings evoked. Her uninhibited response added fuel to the fire blazing within him. Della soon felt her back pressed solidly against the wall of the elevator and her employer molded to her front. 

Without really knowing how they got there, Della realized that her hands were stroking over the bare skin of Perry’s back for somehow she had managed to pull his shirt and undershirt from his trouser waist and slip beneath them. 

‘Stop this now!’ her brain screamed at her, but her body refused to cooperate. She’d often wondered how his skin would feel beneath her fingers, how he would smell, taste… How he would look, this man she loved with her entire being… How strong the muscle and sinew was… how his lips would feel exploring her.

“Per…” His name fell from her uncompleted, as she felt him nuzzle the side of her neck, his nose sliding down her jaw as his lips tasted and teased. Cool air caressed the skin being exposed as he slowly slid the top button of her coat out of its hole. Her fingers gripped him tighter.

And still his mouth moved lower, leisurely following the bare skin being revealed as a second button slipped free… and then a third. A fourth…

Perry was moving blindly, instinct driving him as one side of the coat slipped down her arm. His eyes opened at her gasp and to his instant delight he was confronted with the milky white swell of her bare breast.

“Oh god, baby!” He groaned, exhaling as he lifted her up, her feet leaving the floor. One knee slid between her legs to keep her in place, pushing the coat up her thighs. Her knee bent and locked around his hip as his lips latched onto the soft flesh now at mouth level while one hand slid up her leg.

She whimpered as she caught sight of them in the mirror on the back wall of the elevator, locked together in such a sensuous position. The tiny room seemed to take on a surreal quality… the air thick around them, heavy with the scent of desire… Perry’s eyes heavy lidded as his pursed lips and hot tongue continued to lave and pull at her oh so sensitive flesh…His quickly growing need more than evident against her leg. Her fingers fisted in his ebony hair, knocking his precariously perched hat loose. Della couldn’t tear her eyes away from the fedora as it drifted toward the elevator floor, seemingly in slow motion. 

But more and more she could only focus on the waves of pleasure washing over her… the hunger building… lifting her higher and higher toward…

“DAMN!” Perry cursed and pulled back as a loud buzzing noise filled the small confines of the cage. Reluctantly he lowered Della back to the floor, one large hand moving to cup and cover her still heaving chest while the other stroked her cheek. “Della? Baby? Charlie is calling for the elevator… We have to stop…”

Chapter 3

“Stop…” Della finally looked at him with glazed eyes then shook her head sharply. She jerked away from him. “Yes… we HAVE to…” Her cheeks flushed bright red as her head began to clear and she realized just exactly how close she had been giving in to her base desires and allowing Perry to take her … take her against the wall in the stalled elevator.

The buzzer sounded again just as Perry would have spoken so he swore loudly again and hit the control panel. The cage resumed its slow descent. 

“We need to talk about this …” Perry whispered.

“Not now,” was her firm reply. “Charlie…”

“Della!” Perry was not going to be put off.

“Perry… wh…what do you want…” Della stammered, betraying her nervousness. 

“Well… I’m a man…” His eyes raked over her body from top to bottom and back.

“Oh yes…” Eyes falling, Della replied in a husky whisper that caused a leap in Perry’s already prominent anatomy. “You definitely are that…” Her mouth went dry remembering the press of that same anatomy against her body just moments ago and she forced her gaze back up as he continued speaking.

“Right this minute? I want to strip that coat off of you, throw it on the floor and make love to you on top of it.” Perry met her gaze head on, doing nothing to hide the desire clearly visible in his eyes.

Della swallowed hard and turned to the side. Perry could see that her cheeks were flushed scarlet and her breathing was still heavy. He pushed further. “You want that too, don’t you, Della?” Had he not been watching her so closely he would have missed the slight bob of her chin. Perry moved toward her purposefully, arms outstretched.

Della threw an arm out to stop him. “I think you should take me home, Chief.”

The floor indicator clanged two.

At that moment Della saw their reflections in the mirror again. When the doors parted for Charlie, the night janitor, there would be very little doubt as to what had just been taking place here. Her fingers flew to the buttons of her coat, her movements shaking and disjointed.

“How do I look?” She asked, hastily fastening her attire and desperately trying to appear as normal as possible.

“You look like you’ve just been thoroughly kissed… and like you want to be kissed again.” Perry observed as he tucked his shirt tail in and smoothed the hair she had so recently mussed.

It was true. Only time could reduce the color in Della’s cheeks or the plumpness in her lips, and her hair… Desperate, Della scooped up Perry’s hat just as the doors began to open on the ground floor and jammed it down on her head, yanking the brim low and hoping the shadow of it would camouflage her face, hoping it would cover the multitude of sins visible.

“OH… sorry, Mr. Mason,” Charlie smiled. “I didn’t realize you were still here. I’m sorry I didn’t hear you buzz…”

“Ellen gave me a quick lesson on how to operate this contraption so I just ran us down myself.” Perry rocked back on his heels, hands in his coat pockets pushing the fabric out in front of him. Della quickly darted around him and took off toward the garage exit, the staccato clicks of her high heels on the tile echoing through the empty lobby. “Guess we worked too late…” Perry offered then took off after his secretary. “Night, Charlie.”

“Night, Mr. Mason… Miss Street.” 

Della didn’t look back.

~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ 

Perry caught up with Della heading toward the deserted taxi stand. “I’ll take you home.” Although he couldn’t see her eyes beneath the brim of the hat he could feel them glaring at him but she didn’t protest when he laid his hand against the back of her elbow and turned her toward his car.

He opened the driver’s door but before she could slide in he turned her toward him. “I know you don’t want to talk but we really need to...”

“Perhaps this discussion would be better served in more comfortable surroundings over a tall glass of scotch? When we aren’t beginning a new case?”

Perry lifted her chin with his finger. “In a perfect world… but beginning a new case didn’t stop us from almost making love in the elevator.”

“We wouldn’t have…” the protest died on her lips as she realized that was exactly what could have happened without the interruption. That realization shook her. She never would have allowed herself to go that far… would she?

Perry didn’t respond verbally to her feeble protestation but his indigo eyes challenged her. He yanked her to him and pressed his lips to her almost savagely. It was then he found out that Della bit… just before his fedora sailed down from her dark curls and ended up lost on the concrete. Startled by the sudden movement, he pulled back and bent down to pick the hat up. On his way back up, he brushed his torso against her, making sure she felt him, and ended with his lips just two inches away from hers. 

“Why, Mr. Mason! What kind of girl do you think I am?” Della took the hat and placed it back on her head as she dropped her eyes away from the handsome lawyer standing so very near her. She gently pushed him back and caught her breath. 

“The best kind, my dear Miss Street…” Perry refused to let her go. “MY girl!” 

A sound somewhere between a sob and a sigh whispered from her lips. Her hand briefly caressed his chest through his shirt before she pushed against his arm then dropped to the seat and slid over to make room for him.

Mason drove out of the garage and onto the deserted streets, fog quickly enveloping the car as he steered in the direction of Della’s apartment. Della had moved to the far side of the seat and he missed her cuddled up next to him. His mind raced back through the last few minutes.

‘Was I too forceful? Did I push her too far? Maybe she didn’t want…’ He quickly banished that thought. The one thing that he was completely sure of was that she had wanted him just as much as he wanted her. ‘But an elevator, Mason? Could you be any more inappropriate, stupid?’ He mentally berated himself, knowing that his secretary was a true lady and that his actions and her reaction had probably shocked her to her very core. But the thought keeps spinning through his mind how she had reacted… more quickly and more passionately than Mason would ever have imagined. He had wondered for months… not even daring to hope… but now knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that she wanted him, perhaps even loved him? Having come this far he was willing to drop this now.

Decision made, Perry stopped at the next red light and leaned to his right side with his arm outstretched, hauling Della back to the middle of the seat next to him before the light turned green. Again he could feel her glare even though she was still hiding her emotions and the effect of them beneath the brim of his hat.

In his mind’s eye Perry knew what she looked like right now. He’d seen the desire in her eyes. It frustrated him that she hid herself from him like this. “Dammit, Della! Maybe I acted out of turn… behaved like a brute… but we’ve been dancing around this for months! You have to know that I am crazy in love with you, that I want to be with only you. I’m ready and willing to make a commitment but you keep saying no. Then you kiss me like that…what DO you want?” 

For Della’s head had snapped back. Finally he could see her eyes, now wide and staring at him. “You… love me?”

“For Pete’s sake, woman! Of course I love you! I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you… How many times have I asked you to marry me?” Perry stared back at her incredulously. “Am I wrong, Della? Don’t you feel the same? I thought… hoped… that you were beginning to feel something for me…” When she didn’t immediately answer he turned away, fist hitting the dash in frustration.

“You never told me…” she finally whispered, faintly, but he heard her. “I knew you found me attractive… that you wanted me… enough to propose to me even… but you never told me that you love me.”

Perry raised one hand and ran his fingers through his hair. Comprehension began to dawn on his face as she continued to speak.

“I thought it was just me. I didn’t want to be some cliché… the secretary trying to snag her rich boss… How could I tell you that I was in love with you when you didn’t feel the same way?”

“But I did… and I was a fool not to tell you until now… I just…” Not really sure what to say, Perry drove on silently for several blocks before his mind finally worked through Della’s last words. “Wait… you love me too?” 

Della laid her hand on his arm, a huge smile on her face. “Chief?”

“Yes, baby?” His own face was beaming.

“You just missed the turn to my apartment.”

~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ 

Della dug the keys to her door out of her purse and laid them in Perry’s outstretched hand. He’d insisted on accompanying her to her apartment, claiming that no gentleman would let a lady go without protection attired as she was, and she didn’t protest. Because they both knew that there was so much more to it… that once Perry entered the apartment with her the odds of him leaving this night were extremely low.

Once they had entered, Della moved quickly to the small kitchen returning minutes later carrying a tray with ice, glasses and a bottle of scotch. Perry gratefully accepted the drink she offered and after touching the rim of his glass to hers, took a stiff swallow of liquid courage.

“When did you…” Della asked her implied meaning obvious.

Perry shook his head and chuckled. “I told you already. The first time I laid my eyes on you, I was lost. It just took me a while to figure that out. Now you tell me…”

“Hmmm…” Della began to wander slowly around her small apartment, fingers of one hand running across various surfaces. Perry recognized her nervousness and let her walk.

“If I’m completely honest the ground began to shift beneath my feet the first time I looked into those magnificent pools of indigo you call eyes. Piercing… Knowing… Mysterious… but I held on, well… I resisted until…”

“Until?” Perry prompted when Della’s voice tapered off.

“The McConnell case.”

Perry searched his memory. “Mrs. McConnell was in danger of losing her home because the insurance company didn’t want to pay her husband’s death benefits? Why during that one?”

“Why that one…Mrs. McConnell was a poor little old lady with no one in the world who cared about her… until she came into your office. That insurance company offered you more money than I could even fathom to represent them instead but you said no… you stood by her…”

“She was my client. Of course I stood by her.”

“You fought tooth and nail for her and didn’t accept a dime in payment. That’s when I started freefalling.”

“Just because I helped one little old lady?”

“Just because…” her voice was soft. “Your turn. ”

“ Like I said, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you.” He took a sip, and looked at the scotch in the glass before continuing. “I have wanted to make love to you from the first time I saw you.”

“Perry Mason!” 

“I didn’t say that I realized it then! It was several months before it hit me… You’d just stormed into my life, my work… my heart… and there you were. It hit me like a lightening bolt.”

“As I recall, Counselor, you spent those ‘several months’ dating a certain attractive attorney named Laura… every night? Roses twice a week?” Perry was relieved that the tone of Della’s voice indicated she was teasing more than mad… but still inquisitive. “Then… nothing…”

He swallowed hard. Laura would have been a difficult subject to discuss even if he hadn’t been aware of the undercurrent of animosity between his former girlfriend and his secretary. “As you are very much aware, Laura was a…force of nature… She was beautiful and intelligent and in the beginning I enjoyed the time I spent with her…”

“She sounds perfect…” Della threw in with just a hint of sarcasm which Perry chose to ignore.

“Mmm… one would think… but one day an angel walked into my office…”

Della snorted into her scotch glass. “Angel?” She sniffed, one eyebrow raised.

“This lady… in every sense of the word, was… is an angel. You were everything that I initially thought Laura was… but so very much more, and having you there quickly opened my eyes to her true nature. You are genuinely kind, Della… gentle… loving, caring, friendly, open…”

“Perry,” she protested.

“Laura was… she was a bitch to you from day one. But you… you were always polite… always refined in your responses while refusing to let her get away with her little cuts and digs.”

“I couldn’t exactly lose my temper with her, now could I?”

“The beauty that you possess in your heart and soul is what makes you infinitely more beautiful than ANY other woman I have ever known. It may have taken me a little while to realize that, but once I did… I didn’t want shallow and superficial any more. I didn’t want spiteful. I wanted the woman who knew who I was… not the one who was trying to make me into something I wasn’t. I wanted you or no one. I just wasn’t exactly sure how to go about getting you without scaring you off.”

“So now that you have me?” 

Perry turned away to stare at the fireplace as he took another large gulp of whiskey. “I guess that is the thing we need to discuss. Come here.” He moved to the sofa, sat and patted the cushion next to him. As badly as he wanted to pull Della onto his lap and start kissing her again, he managed to let her sit beside him instead. He lifted her hand.

“This will change things.” Della stated matter of factly.

“It doesn’t have to…” Perry interjected. 

“If you are going to delude yourself like this we don’t stand a chance.”

“Della Street! Look… I know it will change things somewhat… but we have already been working on keeping work separate from our personal lives, haven’t we?” He gave her his best courtroom stare.

Knowing the times that she had stopped his kisses in the office from becoming too passionate… the embraces they had shared in dark corners of dance floors… she couldn’t help but nod in agreement. They both knew that this was coming… that together they would eventually have to face their desires… And now there was a deep emotional connection to factor in as well. Should they wait until there was more time to consider the ramifications?

Perry continued his voice almost a whisper. “But this… right now… you deserve so much more, baby. You are a true lady and I always want you to know I respect you just as much as I love you... You deserve dinner and dancing… moonlight and tropical breezes… roses and champagne… a church and vows… I want to give you all these things.”

“So you don’t want to make love to me now?” Della asked with a bluntness that surprised them both, astonished that Perry was the one who voiced reservations instead of her. “You want to wait?”

“Hell no, I don’t want to wait!” Perry answered honestly and vehemently. “But even though I haven’t really shown it to you tonight, I can be a patient man. I don’t want you to have any regrets…” He paused but when Della didn’t respond he went on, “What I’m trying to say, Della, is that if we continue this right now it is your decision. You are completely in charge. You decide what we do, how far we go. You can stop me at any time…”

Della arched her eyebrows at him and smiled… oh that sexy, naughty smile… “Anytime?” She laid a hand on his upper thigh, her nimble fingers resting dangerously close to parts of him she had never seen, but had felt all the more.

Perry exhaled slowly. “You aren’t going to make this easy, are you, baby? You do realize that there is a point of no return for a man, don’t you?” He wondered briefly about her experience. 

“So I set the pace?” Della couldn’t really believe the great Perry Mason, commander of the courtroom, was surrendering complete control to her. 

“It’s all in your hands, baby.”

Della unconsciously tightened her grip on his thigh, the action rewarded with a low groan and his eyes rolling back as his lids closed. But otherwise Perry didn’t move. 

“We need more ice.” Della stood and walked toward the hallway, an extra sway in her hips. Watching her retreating form with undisguised interest, Perry sighed and took another large gulp of scotch.

~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ 

 

Della cleared the opening into the short hallway of her apartment and slowed, knowing that she really just needed a few minutes alone to consider everything that had happened. 

Flattening her back against the wall, she raised her hands and ran them through her tangled curls, as her mind raced. Della wasn’t completely without experience but since breaking her engagement and moving to California years ago she hadn’t been intimate with any man. While her social calendar was always full, at least until she had gone to work for the busy Perry Mason, she hadn’t met anyone she could get that serious about, and Della Street just wasn’t a casual kind of girl.

But the man sitting in her living room drinking her whiskey was very close to changing that. 

She wanted him… she craved him… with a desire so fierce that it actually scared her. If anyone had told her just an hour ago that her boss would kiss her so passionately and that she would respond with equal fervor, she would have laughed. No man had ever touched her as intimately as Perry had. No man had ever even seen her naked breast much less kissed and caressed it with such obvious delight. Her experiences with Michael Domenico had been limited to fumbling caresses and shifting clothing to the side in the backseat of his car in the dark. And now she was actually contemplating stripping off all of her clothing and welcoming an equally naked man into her bed… into her body… a man who was her employer… a man who she saw every day… worked with every day… 

Questions she’d considered and resolved repeatedly over the last two years popped into her mind again. What if a personal relationship didn’t work out? Could they continue? Or would she lose the job she loved and the best friend she had ever had?

‘I wonder what he looks like…’ 

Although her experience was restricted, Della did enjoy romance novels and was blessed with a healthy imagination and several close girlfriends more than willing to share their experiences. She’d often had those types of thoughts about Perry, but knowing that she was so close to realizing them made her tremble anew. 

‘No, no, no… yes…’ she scolded herself, pushing away the images of his hands on her skin, the memory of the feel of his lips, as she tried to decide if now was the time to initiate the intimate relationship that they had been dancing around for so long.

She took a few more steps into the dim hallway, beginning a short cycle of pacing as her brain raced through the things he’d said to her, stopping on ‘church and vows’. Perry Mason did not need a wife, at least not right now, no matter what he thought. Della was just as sure of that as she was that he would propose this minute if he thought she would accept. But not needing a wife didn’t mean that he didn’t need someone… that he didn’t need her. And what advantage would being his wife bring her anyway? Della had always valued her independence. She had made her own way in the world since she was eighteen years old and was proud of what she had accomplished. She had no desire to become a rich man’s wife… not if that meant staying home while Perry and a new secretary were out having all the adventures. That would never happen if she had anything to say about it. 

Because, more than anything, Della did not want to be lonely. Life without Perry would be just that to her. She knew that marrying Perry would lead to them spending much less time together and that was unacceptable. But knowing that he loved her… having heard him speak the words out loud… She finally felt free to show her feelings in return.

‘We could be spending much MORE time together…’

Della stumbled and caught herself then bent down and picked up the obstacle she’d tripped over from the floor, Perry’s hat. She realized it must have fallen off earlier when she’d gotten the drink tray. Once again mesmerized by it, she stared at the black wool in her hands but her mind was picturing the fedora perched on Perry’s dark hair, the brim screening deep blue eyes… his strong solid body covered by a perfectly tailored suit… a dark trench coat… He was the epitome of a man in charge of his work, his play, his destiny… his feelings? A man who knew what he wanted in life… and he wanted her.

Catching a glimmer of reflected light, Della realized she’d stopped in front of a mirror. Her gaze moved from the hat to her own reflection… curls still wild… lips still red and swollen, eyes still filled with desire.

‘He loves me…’ 

The words would never have been voiced by him had they not been completely true. In that Della had complete trust. 

‘…and I love him…’ 

Della nodded to herself in the mirror. What did it matter if a new case was starting? A new case was always starting.

‘…he wants me…’ 

The depth of passion that Perry had shown her earlier had shocked and thrilled her, her response to it even more. Nothing had ever felt so basic… so primordial… so absolutely right… And she wanted it… she wanted it all… with him… and now.

‘… and I want him…’

Returning her gaze to the hat in her hands she slowly lifted it and placed it back on top of her own head, this symbol of his authority… the authority that he had given to her for this night.

‘… and I… we are ready for this... It’s time.’

‘But how?’ There was that question again. How would she go about seducing him? Della Street, smart, sassy, cool and efficient, wasn’t exactly sure how to move forward. She knew that she could have seduced most men with little effort, but Perry Mason? He was definitely NOT most men. Her palms pressed against her hot cheeks then dropped slowly down her neck, fingers automatically seeking the top button of the fur coat, as she realized that Perry had already told her what he wanted and given her the power to do it… She knew exactly how to seduce him… how she wanted him… 

Tonight she was the boss.

~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ 

Perry decided not to wait for ice. In fact he was tempted to turn the bottle up and drink the whiskey straight from it, but good manners led him to splash a generous portion into his now empty glass.

He’d botched things again. He knew he had. He and Della had never had any problem talking about… anything. But this? Was she nervous? But then he had to admit that he wasn’t exactly calm either. But he’d meant what he said. He could be as patient as Della wanted or needed him to be… if she even returned … when she returned.

“Perry….”

Her voice, low and sensuous, warm as the whiskey he held in his hand, washed over him and he turned slowly, raising his eyes to see her standing at the entrance to the short hallway leading to her bedroom. Della’s back was to him but her head was turned back toward him over left shoulder. Hazel eyes glittered with desire beneath the low brim of the black fedora, again perched jauntily on her head. Perry gulped. She had no idea how sexy she looked in that damn hat…

He took a step toward her, and then froze as he realized that the fur coat that he had been trying so desperately to slip off of her earlier was hanging loose on her body. She shrugged her shoulders and skin appeared as the coat slid, ever so slowly down her arms revealing her bare back to him.

Perry forgot to breathe as the coat slipped lower, exposing a strip of black lace encasing her perfectly shaped bottom and long slender legs covered with the sheerest of silk stockings and ending in impossibly high heeled pumps.

“Coming?” 

His brain processed the question as the legs his eyes were glued to stepped away from him then disappeared, the coat trailing behind slowly.

”Oh yes,” Perry exhaled with a soft whistle, “most definitely.” Draining his glass and dropping it on the nearest surface, he moved toward the hallway after his girl at a quick step, fighting the urge to run all the way.

The hall was dark but a faint glimmer of light shone in the door way at the end. Perry grinned and tugged at his tie then his wrists, slowing as the shirt buttons at the cuff of his sleeves refused to open. The right one finally released but the left one refused to yield to his suddenly clumsy fingers so he ripped it off in frustration as he softly swore. His hands were moving to his collar when he caught sight of himself in the mirror hanging there. 

For an instant Perry didn’t recognize himself, a stranger seemingly staring back at him. Who was this unfamiliar person? The face was his… but the smile on it was something that he hadn’t seen in a very long time… the happiness… the joy! And the desire which made his indigo eyes almost black… Lust like he had never experienced… but so much more… Longing tempered with overwhelming feelings of tenderness… devotion… yearning for something that promised to become so much more than a single heated encounter. Perry was certain of his feelings for Della Street. He’d made absolutely sure of that before even considering saying anything to her. But what he didn’t realize until he actually saw it reflected on his face was the depth of his commitment to this woman, made without him even comprehending it. 

Perry Mason, very used to being the master of his own heart, now realized that he belonged to Della Street as he had never belonged to any woman… could never belong to any other woman ever again. But did she feel the same?

“How did my hair get mussed again?’ he wondered absently, this thought leading to the absence of his hat. He grinned. Della looked so damned sexy in that hat. But why had she removed it then later put it back on?

‘She put it back on because I put her in charge…’ In a blinding revelation, Perry understood that to Della the hat had become the mark of his authority… Authority that he had given to her… freely. 

‘She loves me,’ 

He knew in his gut that she would have never said those words to him if she didn’t mean them with every fiber of her being.

‘… and I love her…’ 

More than he ever dreamed it was possible to love a woman.

‘…and she wants me…’

Knowing Della so well, knowing that she was a lady, he was beyond shocked, yet delighted at the way she’d revealed the back of her body to him… the coat sliding down her slender but womanly frame, skimming over all of her milky white delectable flesh… but she wasn’t nervous any longer, Perry realized. Her actions were those of a woman who was confident and secure in her decisions and her actions… his woman. 

‘… and god knows I want her.’

The image of Della wearing his hat exploded into his mind once again. Hands clenched the sides of his shirt and pulled, buttons flying down the hallway as he stripped his shirt away then yanked his undershirt over his head. She was his and he had to have her…now. The intensity of his need was staggering and he raced for the bedroom door.

“Damn!” Perry swore once again as his feet tangled in something and he fell forward, catching himself on the wall only by chance. Propping there with one hand he lifted his foot to remove his stumbling block.

‘Shoes!’ Momentarily distracted, he leaned back against the wall and stripped away his footwear and socks, dropping them where he stood. As his last sock fell from his fingers he remembered he still held the cloth that had tripped him in his other hand. Clenching it in his fist he felt damp softness and held it in the dim light to get a better view. The tiny garment of black silk and lace took his breath away. 

‘She’s… oh, baby…’ for in his hand he held the lace panties that had covered Della’s very shapely bottom just minutes before. Perry felt the imminent explosion…

~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ 

A single lamp illuminated the bedroom softly, casting a warm glow over Della, lounging against a pile of pillows on top of the fur coat she’d tossed on the bed. The corner of the top sheet was draped casually across her hips, covering her… but just barely. One knee was raised and drawn over the other, the sheet playing peek-a-boo with her curves and teasing Perry’s vision even as a single finger beckoned him forward. She tilted her head, still cherished by the fedora, up and down, eyes traveling over his half clothed body, but for the moment Perry was paralyzed in the doorway, overcome with the sheer beauty of this woman… his woman, and the voluptuousness she displayed for him alone. Oh, he’d dreamed… but his dream Della was a pale substitute for the perfection now displayed before him.

“Perry?” 

Taking the hint, Perry moved to the side of the bed, his hand lifting to cup Della’s cheek and tilt her head back. The fedora slid lower over her forehead, shading her eyes but there was no mistaking the shimmer of need residing there. She exhaled softly, her breath warming his palm.

“You are so beautiful… so perfect… I’ve never seen anything as lovely as you…”

Perry smiled sexily, his intense eyes meeting Della’s, telling her of his need without words. Releasing her cheek, his forefinger slid across her jaw and down her neck lightly, the touch meant to arouse.

It worked. Della’s back was arching by the time the digit reached the valley between her breasts.

“Wait!” Della fought her way through the glorious sensation his touch was producing. “I’m the boss, remember?” Perry immediately drew his finger back. 

She smiled and patted the mattress beside her. “Wouldn’t you like to join me?”

Perry’s eyes searched hers and saw only confidence and desire there. One hand moved to the button of his boxers while, with an evil grin, the other reached out and yanked the brim of the hat down over Della’s eyes.

She sputtered and pulled the hat up but Perry was quicker. By the time Della could see again Perry was in the bed beside her, sheet pulled over his hips, boxers in a puddle on the floor. He reclined on the pile of pillows with a satisfied smile on his face.

“That wasn’t very nice, Mr. Mason.” There was visible movement beneath the sheet as Della’s honeyed voice dripped over Perry’s body. 

He lifted a hand to her cheek and cupped it lightly. “I said you were the boss tonight, Miss Street, and I meant it. What would you have me do, my girl?”

Della shifted so that she was facing Perry, one arm holding the sheet over her breasts. “I would have you…” His heart skipped a beat when she laid a hand on his naked chest. “…be still.” 

“Be still?” One eyebrow shot up. 

“Be still. As in don’t move. Can you do that?”

Perry debated his answer. He had promised her control, after all. “And what will you be doing?”

“Exploring,” Della’s voice faltered but only slightly. I want to see all of you… touch all of you… as I have in my dreams.”

“And?”

“And I want you to do the same to me… if you want to.”

“Oh Baby… I want!”

He exhaled slowly then settled back against the pillows and raised his hands above his head, fingers curling around her headboard. “But you start…Explore away.”

So she did, her hands starting on each side of his head, fingertips caressing his ears. No single inch of his face remained untouched as she stroked to her hearts content, finally touching him in the way she had been dreaming of for months. 

When her fingers reached his full lips he couldn’t resist teasing her, taking the opportunity to nip at each tip and suck them into his mouth, one by one. He was pleased to see her breathing increase beneath the cover she still held firmly in place with her elbows. 

“Naughty, naughty,” she chastised. Perry simply gave her a devilish grin then went after the next finger.

Della was amazed at how only the feeling of his mouth on her fingers aroused her. And his eyes on her… all of her senses were swimming. She had to stay in control. But those deep blue eyes…

“Hey!” Perry sputtered as Della shoved his hat down on top of his face. “Umm… Della?

“Shhhhh…” The soft whisper from Della’s mouth was cut off as those sweet lips made contact with the hollow of his throat eliciting a sharp gasp and then a deep moan from the naked man beneath her.

Having Mason’s eyes covered seemed to free Della even more and she soon had Perry writhing as she explored his torso in exquisite detail with both fingers and lips. Over and over she stroked to her hearts content, learning every nuance of his body as she had longed to do for so very long. 

And then, as Perry held his breath, the sheet slid slowly down over his hips. 

“Perry …my…” Her whisper fairly dripped with her approval.

“Oh, god, baby…” Perry couldn’t be quiet any longer, his hips flexing upward as he felt her fingers trail around him. “I can’t take…” 

He yelled her name when he felt her warm breath, the gentle stroking of her fingers, as he grasped desperately at the headboard to maintain his hold on its edges. But then the touch was gone… and the dim light in the room momentarily blinded him when the hat was yanked from his face. 

Della stared down at him, once again holding the sheet to her breast, her cheeks cherry red. As aroused as Perry was he couldn’t help but chuckle when he noticed that she’d dropped the hat over his prominent anatomy. 

“Done?” Perry exhaled as he struggled against the urge to let go of the headboard, roll Della beneath him and ravish her. 

“Not by a long shot,” Della shot back sassily. She placed a hand on his chest and leaned over, finally kissing him for the first time since they had entered her apartment.

Immediately they were transported into the intense headiness they had shared in the elevator, drowning in the passionate sensual undertow they created together. Perry had never enjoyed simply kissing a woman as much as he did Della and judging by her avid response she felt the same. But all too soon it wasn’t enough… 

Perry had given Della control but that didn’t mean he was content to be completely passive on the ride they were taking. Feeling both of Della’s hands raking over his chest his subconscious realized that she had released her grip on the sheet. His toes curled around the fabric covering them and began to work it down.

Della felt the strain in Perry’s muscles, tasted the sweat on his upper lip and knew the time was approaching. She was surprised that the obvious effects of her actions filled her with such a sense of power and yes, utter excitement. Della needed Perry and the release he promised just as much as he needed her. Chest heaving, she broke their oral connection and lifted her head to stare in his eyes. He loved her… she loved him… and she was more than ready for them to share that love in the most physical way possible.

“You do realize that I am most definitely going to return that favor, don’t you baby?” He finally released one of his hands to cup her cheek reverentially, his thumb stroking her swollen lips. 

“Actually, Counselor,” Picking up the fedora from its resting place she dropped it back on top of her head, the now freed sheet sliding to her waist, and answered with an authoritative voice made even deeper by the intense desire flowing through her body. “I’m counting on it.”

Perry took a deep breath, suspecting that his world was about to shift on its axis. “So what’s your pleasure… chief?” His eyes widened as they once again roamed over Della’s exquisite naked body. 

“You are, Mr. Mason.” Della swung her leg over Perry’s hips and leaned forward, her lips so close to his they were breathing each others air. Reaching between them, she took him in hand.

“Della,” he breathed her name as he captured her mouth, his fingers on her neck, palm cupping her cheek as he held her to him. Her hand was performing such wicked things he knew he couldn’t hold out much longer. But this was about her. Needing to know that she was really ready, he slid a hand along the satin skin of her outer thigh and then in. Questioning fingers felt the heat radiating from her center before finding her wet with want for him. 

“Oh god…” Della broke the kiss and moaned. “Please…” Her hips bucked against his hand as long fingers worked in and out of her, curling and uncurling, driving her to the brink. 

“Baby… I love you so much,” Perry breathed into her mouth, his hand gliding up to her waist to pull her body fully to his.

I…” Della couldn’t find the words to voice her feelings, to let Perry know what she needed so she mimicked his movement from earlier and as his fingers slid across her face she opened her lips to nip at his thumb. She moved into the slight pressure of his hand, falling forward into his kiss and his torso, bare breasts meeting bare chest. 

Perry felt the vibrations of surprise in her mouth as he continued to caress her tongue with his own. He felt the twisting of her body against his, the press of her chest into his naked skin. She moaned out loud, her words unformed, indistinct, but the meaning very clear. 

Gasping, Della pressed even closer, overwhelmed by the rising swells of unadulterated craving, coursing through her. She wanted him… had to have him… Unable to stop the swelling tide she forced herself to lever her body away slightly. Planting her hands on either side of his head she stared down into his eyes.

“Baby …” Perry was struggling to maintain a certain level of awareness, fighting the maelstrom of passion dragging him quickly toward the precipice. “We can stop… I can still stop now but…” Della wasn’t listening to him, her attention fully focused on his very prominent arousal pressing against her lower belly. Her tongue darted out, moistening her mouth and then small white teeth bit down on her bottom lip. Perry groaned.

Della lifted her body and slid her hand low again, positioning him but when she would have sunk down his hands caught her hips. “Slowly, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.” She nodded, love shining in her eyes as she allowed him to guide her… as they slowly came together completely.

Perry couldn’t hold back once they had been fully joined, a cry escaping Della’s lips at the intense pleasure this gave her. As she began to rock against him he levered his upper body up and clasped her to him. 

Their eyes locked together they moved in point and counterpoint, fighting the end while enjoying the buildup. 

“Perry… Please!” Della knew she was close to the point of no return and suddenly she didn’t want to be in charge… she wanted to be equal with the amazing man she was joined with. Her hand lifted and swept the hat backwards from her head as she pushed her body forward and to the side. Watching her movements, understanding their meaning, Perry held her tightly as they sank side by side into the mattress.

Perry knew if he lived to be one hundred he would never forget Della’s face at that moment… the moment she shattered for the first time beneath his touch… wonder and amazement in her eyes in the seconds before they closed…mouthing his name over and over, her delicate hands clenched in his ebony hair as her body arched and writhed beneath him…and still she continued. Higher and higher… 

And he kept moving.

Faster and faster… 

Her name now a mantra on his lips…

Over and over…

A loud cry… from who?

And then the universe exploded into the purest pleasure he had ever known.

 

~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ 

 

Della hummed happily as hot water from the shower sluiced down her body, soothing muscles that weren’t used to quite the type of workout they’d had throughout the night. Even the washcloth rubbing over her sensitized skin made her moan softly… and the thought of the handsome man still sleeping in her bed made her smile.

Between the late hour and the exertion, sleep had come easily, the lovers wrapped contentedly in each others arms. But, true to his word, Perry had kept his promise. Just before dawn Della had slowly come awake, the vivid dream she had been having become reality as Perry’s hands and lips roamed all over her body. Release came quickly; her hands fisted in his hair, screaming his name over and over, his mouth unrelenting in seeking her continued pleasure.

Reluctantly Della turned off the water and stepped from the shower, knowing that she couldn’t be ‘too’ late for work, especially since the police were sure to be hunting Perry and the missing witness he had supposedly ‘hidden’. Perhaps this hadn’t been the best time to begin this new phase of their relationship, but now that it was done Della wouldn’t change anything about their first night together... the first of many, she hoped.

Wrapping her robe around her still damp body she moved quietly into her bedroom, pausing to stare on her way to her closet. Perry lay on his back, a contented grin on his face. One arm was thrown above his head, the other draped across his stomach. His black hair was mussed and his swollen lips were surrounded by a day’s beard stubble. Della wondered how a man could look so sweet and so sexy at the same time, and then realized it was because he was ‘her’ man… and she had no intention of ever letting him go.

She couldn’t resist altering her path to stand by the bed, hand reaching out to wrap a dark curl around her finger. “I love you,” she whispered. But the sun was rising in the sky and she knew she had to move. Sighing, she let the curl go and turned toward her closet. 

Strong fingers clamped over her wrist and tugged. Della fell forward onto the bed and onto Perry… a very wide awake Perry. “Good morning, gorgeous!” His lips whispered across hers while his hands wandered beneath her robe.

“Good morning… chief…” Della returned his kiss fervently but tried to halt his questing fingers. “I have to get to the office,” she protested half heartedly.

“I know your boss. He won’t mind if you are late.” Perry managed to get one shoulder of the robe halfway down her arm and his lips went to work on the exposed skin as he tried to roll her beneath him.

“Hmm… probably true.” Della reluctantly pushed away from him, straightening her robe. “But someone has to be at the office when our client comes in. Peter Brunold… remember him? And our missing witness, Hazel Fenwick? Oh, and the police… We can’t forget about Sergeant Holcomb.”

“Damn!” Perry swore but he let her move away after one last lingering kiss. “I have a great sense of timing, don’t I?”

“I thought your sense of timing was pretty darn good…” she replied saucily as she pulled a beige and brown work suit out. 

“Baggage!” He mockingly glared at her then broke out into deep swells of laughter when she stuck her tongue out at him.

Perry rose from the bed and looked around for his clothes, grinning at Della when he caught her eyes raking up and down his naked body, and then realizing that all of his garments were in the den and hallway. By the time he had gathered them and returned to the bedroom Della was dressed and had applied a light makeup to her classic features. Watching her swipe lipstick across her swollen lips, he was overwhelmed with the urge to capture them again. He sighed.

“This isn’t going to be easy, is it? Working when all I want to do is kiss you, touch you…”

“No…” Della agreed. “But your client…”

“Brunold will get one hundred percent of my attention. But as soon as the case is over will you go away with me? Somewhere we can give all our attention to… us?”

Della reached up to straighten the tie Perry had just put on. “I’d like that VERY much, counselor… so we’d better get busy and get this case solved, hmm?”

This time Perry simply couldn’t resist the urge to taste her lips once more. Della responded to his kiss eagerly but when it threatened to get out of hand she broke away then reached for a tissue to wipe away the traces of color left on Mason’s face. 

“You do realize that if you keep doing this you are going to have to give me a makeup allowance?” Della asked saucily as she dabbed at the stains on his mouth. “I sense my lipstick usage is about to go up exponentially.”

Perry just grinned, a sexy boyish grin that melted Della’s heart and seriously tempted her to throw caution to the wind and invite Perry back to her bed immediately. ‘Focus, Della!’

“Anything I need to do this morning?” She tried to drag them both back into work mode.

“Just keep the wolves at bay. I’m going to grab a shower and shave and change then I’ll be in the office.”

Della’s fingers played over his stubble. “I don’t know… I think you would look even sexier with a beard, if that’s possible.”

“Maybe someday I’ll grow one for you. Now as much as I want to stay here with you, we have a client to represent. You take my car and I’ll catch a taxi.”

“Okay… oh… your hat…” Della’s eyes searched the floor. “What happened to it?”

“It’s here somewhere…” While Della walked to the other side of the room to check the floor Perry flipped back the covers on the bed. “Uh oh…”

“Oh NO!” Della exclaimed, rising up from the opposite side of the mattress with her fur coat in her hand, from where it had apparently been ejected from the bed sometime during the course of the night to see Perry picking up a flat felt blob from the middle of the mattress. “I’m so sorry!”

“Well I’m not,” Perry replied ruefully. “You looked damn sexy in my hat.” 

“I will buy you a new one.”

“I don’t think it would make any difference, baby.” For just looking at the smashed remains of his hat was causing a particular reaction in his body. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to wear a hat again without thinking about you… how you look wearing my hat… especially how you look wearing my hat and nothing else.”

Della tossed her coat over a chair as she moved toward him then took the flattened material from Perry’s hands and turned it over and over. “Maybe it could be fixed?” She pushed the crown back up so that the piece was actually recognizable as a hat again. “Or maybe not…” Sadly, the structure of the fedora had been broken down. She smiled ruefully at Perry. 

“I think the end result was worth the loss.” His hand was reaching out for her.

“Oh really?” Della grinned sassily as she popped the hat down on her head once again, smiling in her usual charming way, not even slightly aware at that moment of the reaction her action was causing inside the man standing in front of her.

But seconds later… she knew… oh how she knew!

~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ ~pd~ 

Denver, December 1989

“Why indeed?” Perry muttered with an arched eyebrow, his gaze firmly locked with Della’s. “I can’t remember. Perhaps they just went out of style…Do you know, Della?”

“I seem to recall that you had a tendency to lose them… or destroy them in some manner,” Della smiled at Perry, a smile he was glad that Ken couldn’t see, that sexy naughty smile reserved for only him. 

“Mmm… I do recollect that now.”

Ken couldn’t quite put his finger on what changed the atmosphere in the room, but glancing at his watch, he was glad the time had come for him to depart for the airport.

“Well… I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas and a safe flight back to LA. I’ll see you next year!”

“Next decade!” Perry corrected as he levered his large body out of the chair. 

Ken hugged Della and kissed her cheek. “Merry Christmas, dear. Enjoy your time at home.” She offered as she escorted him to the door.

“And come back ready to work!” Perry groused, following them close behind. 

“Always, boss. Have a good flight yourselves.” 

Della exchanged a few more pleasantries with Ken before bidding him a final farewell and closing the door behind him. She turned, back pressed against the door and took a moment to watch Perry’s backside with undisguised interest, for his front was hidden behind the open door of the coat closet nearby. With a knowing smile she moved forward.

“Looking for something, Chief?” She moved to his side and deftly stuck her arm over his shoulder to relieve him of his new headgear.

“Baggage!” The muffled epithet emerged from the closet but its speaker didn’t. 

“You haven’t called me that in years… decades, even.” Della said nostalgically.

“But it’s still appropriate at times.” Most of Perry emerged from the closet, only one arm still hidden inside. “Like now…” His voice trailed off as he eyed her appreciatively, the rakishly tilted hat on her head already having its usual effect on both huge body and brilliant mind. “You knew exactly what you were doing, young lady. That hat… You know that the reason I seldom wear a hat is every time I put one on I tend to get… umm… excited… because you always manage to wear it… usually wearing nothing else…”

“And you have a problem with that, Mr. Mason?” Della cocked an eyebrow at him and continued. “Have you already found what you were looking for?”

“Give me back my hat!”

“But chief…” 

Perry grew almost lightheaded at the look Della gave him. Knowing the effect she was having on him, she ran her hand over the hat brim, pulling it lower on her forehead. “What do I get in return?”

Perry’s arm emerged from the closet carrying a well preserved fur coat. “I’ll keep my mouth shut about why you stopped wearing this,” He gave her his best stone faced courtroom stare.

“I wear fur coats all the time, counselor.” The hat sank lower still.

“Mmm… but this one… you never wear it… yet somehow… but some fortuitous circumstance… here it is in Denver…”

“The weather has gotten so warm in L.A… and this particular coat has… other uses.”

“Miss Street, you are up to your neck in this gift conspiracy!” One thick gray eyebrow lifted, piercing blue eyes accusing. “I keep expecting my old fedora to pop up!”

“Why, Mr. Mason! I have no idea what you mean!” Della turned her back to Perry and started to walk away from him. He watched with amusement as she stopped and turned her head back over her shoulder, wide flirty eyes beckoning him. The silky red robe slipped down over one shoulder revealing smooth bare skin beneath.

‘Damn!’ She’d been sitting there calmly drinking coffee, chatting with Ken, wearing his new hat while being absolutely and deliciously NAKED! AGAIN! Perry’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared.

“Coming?”

“After you, baby? Always!” He laughed as he tossed the coat at her. Della caught it handily, but had to give up her grasp on her robe which then slipped lower down her back.

Moving quicker than his size should have allowed Perry lunged for her. She danced out of his grasp but he managed to catch hold of the robe. Della laughed merrily as she let the garment slide away, moving quickly toward the bedroom as she clutched the fur against her nude body.

Perry tossed the robe away and followed purposefully, his dressing gown falling to the floor a few feet further on. Pausing in the short hallway to kick away his slippers he paused, staring into the mirror and remembering…

There he was again, the stranger in the mirror with Perry’s face. But he was a familiar stranger now. The smile was there… the blue eyes made black with growing desire… Years of love and passion tempered with tenderness and devotion. That long ago yearning for his lovely girl realized that night was still growing. The depth of his commitment to this woman had been fully accomplished and never wavered. He belonged to her and her alone, and she to him.

And she still looked so damn sexy in his hat! Many women had passed through his life but only Della Street had the power to drive him insane with both love and lust… the only woman he wanted to have sex with… the only woman he wanted to make love to… the woman he loved more now than that first time… the woman he would love the rest of his life.

As he shifted his gaze toward the bedroom door and moved, Perry could have sworn he heard his doppelganger in the mirror behind him whisper, ‘Told you so!’

Perry walked into the bedroom, his step jaunty, only to stop short. Instead of reclining on the bed as he expected, Della was standing beside it, the coat clutched beneath her chin and a distant look in her eye.

“Baby?” Perry moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, his chin coming to rest on her shoulder. “What is it?”

“That night… it was such a long time ago… but it seems like it was just yesterday. Where did all the time go?”

“Hey… where did this come from?” Perry turned her in his embrace and stooped to kiss her lightly. “That night was amazing… as amazing as every night since has been… every morning… every afternoon… every breakfast, lunch and dinner, every vacation…”

Della’s fingers lay across his lips and stopped him. “Every single moment…” She tilted her head back to kiss him fully… passionately. “And I want more of them, a lot more.”

“Your wish is my command… boss. Whatever you desire…”

By way of an answer Della tossed the fur coat onto the bed then grabbed the sides of his pajama top and pulled with all of her strength. Buttons flew as she stripped the top away. Pressing her bare torso into his, she attacked his mouth, ravaging it with lips, tongue and teeth. By the time they broke the kiss to breathe his pajama pants and underwear lay in a puddle on the floor as did her panties.

“Why, Mr. Mason! What kind of girl do you think I am?” Della’s eyes sparkled as she lifted the hat from her head and, taking a step back, held it down over the evidence of Perry’s desire. He looked down and smiled. 

“My girl…”

“And don’t you forget it!” The red tipped forefinger planted in his chest pushed him backwards toward the bed. When the back of his knees hit the bed he stopped, and expectantly held out his arms. Della simply pointed.

“Why Miss Street! One might believe that your intentions toward me are less than… chaste?” There was that smile with the hint of devil in it… the smile that drove her wild… and it grew bigger as he spread his large girth out on top of the fur covering.

“One might be correct, Mr. Mason.” Della lifted a knee and placed it on the bed beside his hips then stared pointedly at the hat Perry had dropped over himself now. “Let me assure you that I intend to do very wicked and very naughty things to you. Do you have an issue with that?” Her voice had dropped so low it was barely a whisper and the hat bobbed in response.

Perry stared at his lover… at his love. She’d been playing peek-a-boo all morning but at last there she was. Time had refined his Della but that sassy young lady who had rearranged his practice and his life still lurked… the ‘wife’ who kissed her husband so passionately in a hotel lobby as he was abandoning their honeymoon… the ‘moll’ to his ‘gangster’ on that trip to San Francisco… the secretary who’d been willing to chance jail only a few hours before their steamship departed… the woman who’d answered his call wearing only a fur coat… the partner he’d spent his life loving…

“No issues. But only if I’m allowed to return the favor.” The timber of his voice matched hers. 

As Della swung her leg up and over to straddle her lover the new black hat sailed across the room to land with a quiet thump. There it lay undisturbed in the corner of the bedroom, a silent witness to the love of a man and woman… a love; physical, emotional and spiritual; that had lasted for over forty decades… a love that even now grew with every breath, with every passing moment… a love proven to stand the test of time. 

Hat or no hat.

 

~Fin~

Note: Above references are from the following books:

The wife: The Case of the Caretaker’s Cat  
The moll: The Case of the Empty Tin  
The secretary: The Case of the Lame Canary  
And the woman is of course The Case of The Counterfeit Eye.


End file.
